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Miklos
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hello,
is there a way to use 720p 4:3 resolution with xbmc? i have a non widescreen hdtv capable video projector, so 720p (or 1080i) in 4:3 is really missing...
any ideas if this can be done? ( i have seen 720p and 1080i in 16:9, but that is not very good for me)
thank you,
miklos
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with the latest release you can change the pixel ratio of each screen mode for movies and picture viewing. that way you can quite easily change so that 720p is 4:3 instead of 16:9. afaik the xbox only supports 720p and 1080i in 16:9 modes (ie it sends the widescreen flag in the video signal). whether your projector switches based on this, i don't know.
one thing to try is to set the pixel ratio of 720p to 0.75 and see if that works for you.
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720p is by default 16:9! 1280/720 = 16/9. thus i think its a bug to display in the systemsettings "720p 4:3". btw, in hdtv mode the goomviz isn't centered, it's in the top left corner, and can't be adjusted in xml config of goom.
oh, and really thanx for the great work!
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the goom uncentered appears also in pal 16:9 (non hdtv) mode
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Miklos
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thank you for all the comments.
i will try to set the pixel ratio to 0.75
at the same time: there are several games, which are 720p in 4:3. also, the ms dasboard allows 720p and 1080i in 4:3.
so i am not sure if the statement that the xbox supports 720p only in 16:9 is correct. (especially, since games like soul calibour and others are 720p and 4:3).
miklos
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according to the xdk documentation, 720p and 1080i are only 16:9 by the xbox. i notice, however, that it is possible to specify 720p or 1080i in the msdash without widescreen being enabled.
does your tv auto-switch between 4:3 and 16:9 based on the input signal? the xbox sends a flag with the video signal when in widescreen mode.
please test the following:
set the ms dash to enable only 720p (480p/1080i/widescreen disabled) and load a 720p retail game and notice how your tv reacts.
next, set the ms dash to enable both 720p and widescreen (480p/1080i disabled) and reload the same game and notice how your tv reacts.
does it auto-switch to a 16:9 mode? if so, then 720p 4:3 is possible, and i'll add it in. if not, then either your tv can't do widescreen switching based on input source, or the xbox is disregarding the widescreen setting in the ms dash when in 720p.
once we've figured this out, we can add the possibility for 720p 4:3 easily.
also: i'll check the strings that it's showing in the gui to make sure it is correct.
cheers,
jonathan
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Miklos
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jmarshall: i am not familiar with the xdk.
i know however, that quite a few games are 720p and not 4:3 (one of them being soul calibur). selecting 720p and 4:3 in the xbox and using the 4:3 mode of my infocus x1 results in a very sharp and detailed full screen picture.
if i set my projector to 16:9 and enable 16:9 on the xbox dashboard, sould calibur looks stretched (the characters are not proportional any more). having both the xbox and the projector in 4:3 results in a very clean 720p image.
i think, that my projector does not react to any 16:9 format signals (flags): i have to select manually on it, whether the incoming signal is 4:3 or 16:9.
by the way: setting the pixel ratio to 0.75 resolved my issue: i have full screen in 720p and 1080i.
i hope that answers your questions.
thanks for looking into this,
miklos
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thanks for that, miklos.
do you have a digital camera? if so, could you please do the following if you have a chance:
1. setup your xbox to 720p and 4:3, set your projector to 4:3 and run soul caliber and go to a specific scene which you can remember for next time. take a photo of what your projector is displaying.
2. setup your xbox to 720p and 16:9, set your projector to 16:9 and rerun soul caliber and go to the exact same scene (as near as you can get it). take another photo.
post both photos so i can see what is happening.
if anyone else has a similar setup and can do the same, that'd be great as well (any game will do - doesn't have to be soul caliber).
thanks,
jonathan
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Miklos
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i will try to take a few pics over the weekend.
miklos
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att: jmarshall
soul calibur 2 gets squashed, as i said earlier.
btw, i have taken som pictures \ screen captures and written som thing for you to look at, there is only one problem. where should i send the pictures.
for more people to be able to test 720p you guys should find a way for xbmc to run at 720p when using the vga cable. the company that made dragons lair 3d were able to do it and microsoft too with the xshell.xbe (set xdk launcher video resoultion 1280x720 can be chosen, however 1920 x 1080i cant). maybe it is a good ide to check out those two xbe's to check out how that modus is set\allowed when the box is in vga modus.
namco fucked up bigtime with soul calibur 2. 720p is only 4:3 on a hdtv so it shows black bars on left right when running at 720p, on a projector using hdtv at 4:3 the game just looks squashed.
if you wanna se any intresting pics using the hdtv modus, i can get you pics of sc2, dragons lair and true crime and of cause of the xbmc.
the colour balance between red \ green \ blue does not seem to be 100 % accurate ither when using 720p or 1080i. you should consider having an video option that lets you adjust the output for each colour for both graphical interface and video overlay.
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Miklos
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i hope you have received the pictures from jin - as i was unable to take some (my digital camera started to play crazy - i should probably get a new one soon...)
another question though: i am using now xbmc with a pixel ratio of 1:0.75, to get a full screen picture with my slide shows in 720p and 1080i, and it looks sort of ok.
but only sort of, as the 720p and 1080i resolutions are quite pixelized (while 480i - which is modified by the faroudja video processor in the infocus x1 is not. of course 480i has much less detail and it has a softer image).
i tried to use the "soft" setting to reduce pixelization in 720p or 1080i, but i do not think that it had any impact (image seemed to look exactly the same in soft than w/o soft).
is there any "trick" i could apply to reduce pixelization? (again: i am using jpeg's in 1600x1200 resolution).
thanks again for the advice , and thank you for continuing to develop this great software!
miklos
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jin:
please either upload to the site pointed to by gamester above, or email them to me - i have sent you an email.
miklos:
the picture rendering has recently been improved (after 11/29) so hopefully this will improve things. smooth doesn't do anything for pictures - just movies. pictures already have the smooth filter in place.
cheers,
jonathan
